SEATTLE — Richard Sherman isn’t just ready for his closeup.
He was born ready for it.
What the world saw Sunday night from the Seahawks’ extremely talented and confident young cornerback was just a taste of what Sherman and those who know him say is coming in the two weeks leading up to Super Bowl XLVIII at MetLife Stadium.
Sherman’s tirade for the Fox Sports cameras aimed at 49ers wide receiver Michael Crabtree and the choke sign he directed at Colin Kaepernick after the NFC Championship Game put Sherman under the microscope, drawing condemnation on social media and even from players in other pro sports.
“To those who would call me a thug or worse because I show passion on a football field — don’t judge a person’s character by what they do between the lines,” Sherman said after the Seahawks’ 23-17 victory.
Sherman explained himself further in a column Monday for Sports Illustrated’s MMQB.com website, saying his invective for Crabtree stemmed from the Niners receiver making comments to him during a charity event in Arizona last summer and from Crabtree refusing to shake his hand after the game.
As for Kaepernick, Sherman wrote he mocked the quarterback for daring to challenge him after not throwing his way for most of the game.
But if those heat-of-the-moment displays Sunday were your first significant exposure to Sherman, the third-year pro wants you to know that appearances — and words — can be deceiving.
“Judge a man by what he does off the field, what he does for his community, what he does for his family,” Sherman continued. “People find it easy to take shots on Twitter, and to use racial slurs and bullying language far worse than what you’ll see from me.
“It’s sad and somewhat unbelievable to me that the world is still this way, but it is. I can handle it.”
Not only can Sherman handle it, but look for the former fifth-round pick to embrace it wholeheartedly during the run-up to the game.
Sherman doesn’t just welcome the cameras and microphones; reporters on Super Bowl duty next week could probably get the Stanford graduate — who pens an occasional column during the season — to write their stories himself if they asked nicely enough.
And though you never truly know the character of an athlete or celebrity, Sherman does appear to be a model citizen and a role model off the field.
A native of Compton, Calif., Sherman comes from a solid family and has a master’s degree in communications from Stanford. Aside from an NFL suspension reportedly for Adderall use (overturned on appeal), Sherman has never been in legal trouble and is said to be diligent and tireless in his charity efforts.
None of that seems to matter to Sherman’s detractors, though.
They focus instead on his boasts and frequent public feuds with other players and coaches ranging from Crabtree to Tom Brady to Darrelle Revis to Jim Harbaugh, who was his college coach at Stanford.
What those detractors don’t seem to see, say Sherman’s defenders, is the verbal battles and extreme confidence are the fuel that have made him a two-time All-Pro, a Pro Bowl selection and arguably the best cover corner in the game in just three seasons.
After all, Sherman wasn’t a touted first-round pick like Revis. Sherman played wide receiver in college until injuries prompted him to move to defense for his final two seasons, which — despite his sprinter’s speed and prototypical 6-foot-3, 195-pound size — led to him falling all the way to the fifth round.
Sherman blames part of that drop on bad-mouthing from Harbaugh, one of many grudges the cornerback seems to hold. The end result, however, is a dominant player whom Seahawks coach Pete Carroll wouldn’t trade for anyone and refuses to muzzle.
“Richard is a wonderful spirit,” Carroll said Monday. “He’s got an amazing heart and he has great sensitivity. He goes all the way to the end of the spectrum when it comes to expressing himself.”
There is certainly no disputing Sherman’s football talent. Seattle’s “Legion of Boom” secondary is stacked (three of the four starters have made the Pro Bowl at least once the past two seasons), but Sherman is the centerpiece.
The Seahawks preach an extremely physical coverage style that walks the tightrope of the NFL’s rule book, and they’re willing to accept interference and defensive holding penalties as long as it helps them get in the head of opposing receivers.
That physical style suits Sherman perfectly. Quarterbacks still test him, even though Sherman led the league with eight interceptions this season and has already picked off 20 passes in his young career.
Kaepernick challenged him with the game on the line Sunday, and the result was an acrobatic tip in the end zone by Sherman that resulted in an interception by teammate Malcolm Smith to seal the Seattle victory.
Sherman considered Kaepernick’s willingness to throw against him in such a decisive situation to be an insult, and it was one of the reasons behind Sherman’s now-infamous postgame TV interview.
Though Sherman apologized for those comments Monday, a lot more people are going to know a lot more about Sherman in the next two weeks.
All Sherman wants is to be judged fairly, with the understanding football is not life-or-death.
“I don’t want to be a villain,” Sherman said, “because I’m not a villainous person.”